So a friend is reading The Mystery of Nevermore by C.S. Poe. I was already on the fence about this one since the author made a big deal of comparing herself to Josh Lanyon. That's a mighty high bar to set, especially when you're ripping off the plot of the Adrien English series. So you better have the goods if you're going to make that comparison. And my friend did confirm the writing was quite good. It got me excited. I thought I just might give this one a go. But then...

Unprofessional professionals reared its ugly head. Maybe this crap happens in real life (though I hope not), but this is a book and a romance. The characters don't have to be perfect, but I have to like something about them to root for them. And when it comes to certain professions, like cops (as in this book) or teachers or doctors, then I expect them to act professionally. I do not expect them to

suck the main suspect's dick five seconds after telling him he's suspected of two murders. TWO! And they barely know each other. Like, at least wait until he's cleared of the charges, jeez! We already know from the blurb they're getting together. There's no need to rush into the sex when it's not earned or merited.

Do they not trust their own writing skills? Do they not trust their readers to stay engaged without the sex scenes? It's one thing when the MC is a cruising a night club. It's quite another when the MC is a cop on the job and acting in a "professional" capacity. Are we supposed to find his lack of professionalism sexy? Are we supposed to find the other MC more intriguing because he's clearly soooo irresistible? Because I don't. It's the complete opposite.

I have my share of "nopes" when it comes to things I avoid when reading, but even then I can make concessions for most of them if I come across them unexpectedly in a story so long as they don't go too far out of my comfort zone. But not unprofessional professionals. It is the one thing guaranteed to make me quit a book and/or series, to make me hate the experience of reading it (assuming I actually manage to finish it), and I've wasted too much time on this trope. My "unprofessional professionals" shelf speaks for itself. (Nick Novak #1 only got as high a rating as it did because the mysteries were really well done. But if I had to listen to one more "we were both living on the planet Earth so of course we were going to have sex" scene I was going to scream. And I do give more leeway to P.I.s than I do to cops.)

But anyway, to unprofessional professionals all I can say is, "Nevermore."